


An Ephemeral Hope

by sos_blimek25



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Self-Harm, Spoilers, accidental but tagged just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26581618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sos_blimek25/pseuds/sos_blimek25
Summary: The killing game takes place in a virtual world. When someone dies, they awaken in real life.After her death, Miu is comforted by the person who understands her best — Kaede Akamatsu.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Iruma Miu
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	An Ephemeral Hope

**Author's Note:**

> A quick rewrite of a drabble I wrote shortly after finishing DRV3. In which the killing game happened in a virtual and everyone wakes up fine! Well, kind of.
> 
> I loved the interactions between Miu and Kaede, indeed, they had so much potential...
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!

Tight. Everything was tight. As if she was string being pulled taught and her threads were about to come undone, yes, she felt tight. She couldn’t breathe. Something wrapped around her neck and lifted her off the ground, her legs flailing about beneath her.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Through the black spots peppering across her vision, she saw Kokichi’s smile — a wicked, devilish smile one would see before being plunged into hell.

She ripped and clawed at her neck but it was no use. Air, air, air — no matter how hard she pleaded, her prayer was not answered. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to kill Kokichi so how did things end up this way? How could there be an error in her calculations? She was perfect, she was the world’s greatest inventor, she was running out of time.

Her desperate hand reached out, and with one last withering breath, her life shrivelled up and went limp.

Miu woke up screaming.

She woke up to darkness. She could still feel that ghostly vice around her neck. Fear pumped through her veins as she desperately clawed at it, but her fingers found nothing — her nails tore into skin instead and blood trickled down her chest, staining her clothing, getting under her fingernails.

She panted, she craved air, and this time oxygen made it into her lungs. With each deep breath, her panicking mind began to settle, her fingers began to slow. A bead of sweat dripped down her face. Eventually, she stopped moving. She stopped panicking.

Everything was still. Quiet.

With adrenaline no longer keeping her warm, Miu realised she was abnormally cold. Her feet were frozen stiff, her body ached as if she hadn’t moved in months.

Miu was sure her eyes were open but she couldn’t see a thing. There was something heavy pressing down on her, something on her head, she could feel it.

Tentatively, she raised her hands and patted around. It was circular like a helmet, with various protrusions and wires connected to it. With a grunt, she shoved it off, and colours returned to her.

Everything was blurry — she blinked and blinked, making out the outline of a white-sheeted bed beneath her. An open window and blowing curtains to her left. And clattered around this white-walled room were all kinds of machinery, abnormally large and complex for a regular hospital room. There were blinking lights, whirring engines, and screens everywhere she turned.

Miu’s hands trembled. The helmet slipped from her grasp and clattered across the floor, a couple of cords coming undone and sparking.

She didn’t recognise this place.

But more importantly, how was she alive?

The images replayed in her head over and over — those black spots, the piercing tightness around her neck, the dullness and pain as death took over — _how was she alive?_

Her heart throbbed again, her body pulsed with every beat. This wasn’t right. This didn’t make sense. She looked down at her hands and saw them covered in blood. This didn’t make sense. A panic attack loomed on the horizon.

A door across the room opened and a ghost walked in.

“Iruma-san,” she said.

It must’ve been a dream, Miu thought, for something unscientific like ghosts didn’t exist. She saw Kaede, along with many other classmates die right before her eyes. She mourned her, she wept over her, and yet there she was.

The one person who had ever tried to understand her — Kaede Akamatsu.

Very much alive, Kaede approached the bedside and her eyes flickered to the streaks of blood across Miu’s body. Her face paled. “Iruma-san, oh my god, I…” Kaede wrapped her arms around her. “I’m so sorry.”

Miu didn’t know what was happening, she didn’t understand any of this — but Kaede was so warm, and even if this was a sick dream, she was happy to see her again. Her tears spilled over as she hugged Kaede, burying her head in her chest.

Even if this was a sick dream, it felt so, so nice.

When they pulled away, Miu stared into Kaede’s eyes like they were the only light, the only thing giving her hope. “A-Akamatsu, I thought you were— I saw you...“ Miu sniffled. “What happened? Where am I?”

“You’re safe. Everything’s okay. I’ll explain everything later, I promise.”

While Kaede smiled and put on a strong face, she didn’t know how she would explain it all — how everyone involved in this virtual killing game volunteered to be traumatised for the sake of entertainment. How everyone’s memories before the game might never return, and if they do, it could clash with who they are now.

Team Danganronpa, the company that started all this, created a virtual world so realistic that their deaths would likely haunt them for the rest of their lives. Worst of all, they were making a profit by broadcasting everything to the public.

Yes, there was much explaining to do. Kaede’s heart still ached from when she found out, and she was among the first to die. But she wanted to be there for Miu — as strange as it was, she understood that haunting feeling of suffocation. Perhaps it would bring them closer than they ever could’ve been in the virtual world.

Kaede squeezed Miu’s hand. Even if it was an ephemeral hope, they felt stronger together. Things would hurt for a while, of course. But somehow, someday, perhaps they would overcome their despair.

And they would be okay.


End file.
